Jackson Institute expands recruiting efforts in Africa

When Yale alumnus Eddy Gicheru Oketch was growing up in rural Kenya, he witnessed the tribal violence that erupted in his country following disputed elections. He observed that low-income youth were especially likely to be drawn into the chaos. That’s when he came up with his big idea: economic empowerment will bring peace.

In response, Gicheru Oketch founded Peace for Africa and Economic Development (PAD), which began as a tiny organization with just three volunteers. That was in 2008, when Gicheru Oketch was still in high school.